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Personification

Unit 4 Lesson 1

Personification

Meet Amy!

Amy is an anteater whose favorite hobbies include: Legos, riding bikes, baking all sorts of flavors of cupcakes, and-you guessed it-reading!

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Amy is a fantastic example of personification.

Personification Definition

• Personification is when human qualities are used to represent something that isn’t human.
• Personification is a kind of figurative language.
• The human traits could be: thoughts, feelings, certain actions, opinions…
• It helps readers see clearly and has them use their senses to help see and understand.
• It also gives inanimate or not human things a voice.

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• It EVEN has the word “Person” in it.
• Personification
• This can help people remember the meaning of personification-giving nonhuman things human traits.
• Anything that isn’t human can be personified!
• Basketballs, animals, plants, food…you name it!

Personified Banana: 🡪

What should his name be?

Personification

In what kind of writing do you think you’d find personification?

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Fantasy? Historical Fiction? Graphic Novels? Poetry?

Realistic Fiction? Science Fiction? Folk Tales ? Fairy Tales?

Mystery?

Spoiler Alert! You can find personification in ANY kind of writing! But, writing like fantasy often is easier to locate it, because fantasy can’t happen, and often animals or other items are clearly personified. Can you think of an example?

Personification

It’s important to correctly identify personification when you’re reading writing, but also to understand it so YOU can use it in your own writing! Which picture shows personified fruit? How do you know? Discuss!

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Personified Fruit: Because regular fruit doesn’t dance or have faces or bodies.

Not Personified Fruit: Looking delicious, but simply sitting in a basket.

Is It Personification? �Decide if each picture is personification, then tell how you know. What characteristics or qualities do you see that show humanness.

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Personify the Items

The pictures in the last slide had some items personified and some that were not. Choose 3 and create personification for them. You can use any pictures you would like. You could use a thought bubble or write a sentence. Here is are two examples of personification for you. Can you tell why these work?

The birthday cake glowed with anticipation, waiting for Henry to blow out its flames.

“I think we’ve finally fulfilled our destiny,” thought the candles. “I can’t imagine anything better than being on a birthday cake!”

Personification Practice Pictures ��Choose 3 and create personification for them. You can use any pictures you would like. You could use a thought bubble or write a sentence.

Check Out Key

1. What does personification mean? What word is INSIDE of the word personification?

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• Give an example of something that can be personified.

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• Give an example of something that cannot be personified.

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• Draw a book or piece of food that shows human characteristics. Write a sentence or thought to go with it.

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• How well do you think you understood the meaning of personification today? 5 Stars means you really understood, 1 star means you still have a lot to learn and understand. Write the amount that matches you!